Starbucks coffee shop coming to former McDonald's site in Wading ...

A Starbucks coffee shop is coming to the former McDonald’s site on Route 25A in Wading River, according to Riverhead Town permits posted on the building.

The Riverhead Town Building Department issued a building permit to the property owner May 17 for interior alterations for a “Starbucks” at 6333 Route 25A in Wading River.

The property owner, River Triangle LLC, applied for the building permit on March 17, according to the permit posted in a window of the building.

A Riverhead Town fire prevention permit issued on April 26 also references a “proposed Starbucks.”

Contractors were working inside the store today.

The site has been unoccupied since the McDonald’s restaurant closed in 2020.

River Triangle principal Bob Steinberg told town officials McDonald’s would not renew its lease because the building had no drive-through window, Town Board members said.

The Town Board proposed an amendment to the town code that would allow drive-through windows at restaurants and coffee shops in the Business CR (“Rural Neighborhood Business”) zoning use district.

A ban on drive-through windows in the Business CR district has been in place since at least the 1990s and came about as a result of advocacy by Wading River residents who sought to limit commercial uses such as fast-food restaurants and 24-hour convenience stores in the north shore hamlet. Drive-through windows are allowed only at banks and pharmacies in the Business CR district.

The Town Board heard a lot of negative feedback from the community at a June 2022 public hearing on the proposed zoning change, and has not moved forward with the code amendment.

Starbucks Corporation could not immediately be reached for comment.

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